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Revision as of 04:24, 27 May 2005 by Williamborg (talk | contribs) (→History: add link)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Finnskogen or the Finn's forest is found in Eastern Norway in in the county of Hedmark, in the Eastern part of region known as Solør, bordering Sweden. It is a belt about 32 km (20 miles) wide and running continuously along the frontier in the districts of Brandval, Grue, and Hof (Hof is now Åsnes, and Våler).
History
Finlanders were encouraged to immigrate to Sweden, where they were initially well received by the Duke of Södermanland (who became King Karl IX (1604-1611). They were settled on crown lands in Värmland and Dalsland to occupy the area immediately adjacent to the border with Norway. (Ref: Sawyer)
More were encouraged to come to Sweden during the reign of Gustav Adolph (1611 – 1632). (Ref: Stagg & Sawyer)
The local Swedish peasants did not appreciate the immigrants, who lived by slash-burn agriculture (svedjebruk), and persecuted them. In 1636 a Swedish decree evicted all Finns who were not registered as taxpayers, which amounted to an eviction of most of the Finns. Most moved across the Norwegian border into Solør, forming a colony at Grue. The 1686 census indicates many there were born in Finland, but had lived in Sweden before moving to Norway. (Ref: Stagg)
Their loyalties during the Hannibal War (1643 - 1645) were with Sweden and some were caught spying on Norwegian troops. (Ref: Stagg)
In 1709 General Hausmann so distrusted them that he ordered they all be evacuated from Solør. The bailiff declined to evict them on the basis that they were subsistence farmers and so poor they would have starved if moved from the land they customarily used. (Ref: Stagg)
By the 20th Century the blood had so intermingled that if was probably impossible to find a pure-blooded Finn in the Finnskogen. But in Grue, over a quarter of the place names are still Finnish. (Ref: Stagg)
References
East Norway and its Frontier by Frank Noel Stagg, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. 1956
Medieval Scandanavia, by Birgit & Peter Sawyer, University of Minnesota, 1993.
Links